Confessions of a Tech Recruiter

We’ve all been there before. You’ve combed through job listings and found one that seems to be perfect. You submit your resume and land that first phone interview. After hanging up the phone you feel good about how it went, send a thank you note and wait, hoping for that elusive second interview with the hiring manager. But it never comes. You meet the technical requirements, you have the education and experience, so what went wrong?

Being a talent acquisition coordinator (read, recruiter) for a technology company, I can tell you that it takes more than technical skills and a computer science degree to make it to the next round of interviews. It’s my job to not only make sure you fit the technical bill, but that you fit the cultural one too.

As tech companies shift to adopt more collaborative development methodologies and organizations restructure to foster more connected workplaces, it’s never been more important for hiring managers to ask the question, “Are you the kind of person we want at our company?”

This is often the first hurdle an applicant needs to clear in their interview process. The trouble is, no one ever asks the question out loud. Instead, a mix of technical traits and personality traits are used to arrive at the answer. Where many applicants fall short is understanding how best to present their non-technical assets in our deeply technical field.

While the mix of technical and personality traits may shift for any given opening, some of the easiest ones to bring to an interview don’t take any training at all. Ask yourself these questions as the answers can easily influence the hiring manager’s decision to move someone forward in the interview process.

Do you have the Drive? This is the precursor to all that follows. How have you been guiding your own career? Can you answer the questions: Why do you do this work? How do you hope to grow? You should have the answers — not only for the interview, but for every day interactions and career planning.

Do you have Initiative? You’re an active participant in our communities such as GitHub, meetups, and specialized user groups. Show the employer that you have a passion, that you are curious, hungry for more and eager to expand your skills.

Do you have Enthusiasm? This is shown not only through your presence when interviewing, but also in your work history and community engagement . You never know which conversation will lead to a job offer, so bring your A-Game to everything you do.

Are you Honest? If your resume reads 4 years in Apache Spark (insert new hot tech here) and it’s only been around since 2014, you definitely will not be getting an interview. If your code is pulled from someone else’s public github… well you know.

Are you Open? Show openness to criticism and new ideas. Embracing other ways of solving problems or challenges is a key indicator for how you work with others. No (wo)man is an island, and, no one wants to work with someone who is right all the time. Exchanging ideas is how we learn and get better.

Are you Humble?Too much boasting about a success or making excuses about a failure can turn off a recruiter quickly. Being humble shows that you can learn and help others to learn. In this case, humble pie really does taste good.

Do you have a solid foundation? No AngularJS without solid Javascript, friends. With a plethora of bootcamps, online trainings and more out there, the pressure to list hot tech on your application is on. But beware, it’s easy to poke holes in someone’s facade (testing, code samples, anyone?)

You don’t even have to have a technical degree to prove you have a solid base. Hiring managers know that there are many valuable routes into technical work: school, work experience and natural curiosity all matter. As a job seeker you should display a mastery of core concepts before you highlight the technology du jour.

With the tech industry booming and more and more jobs opening everyday, you need to show that you are not only the right technical solution for a company, but also the kind of person a company wants to be part of its team.

So why not turn this all on its head? Next time you’re in an interview, ask the company what it thinks about community or team work? This is a conversation that tech recruiters want to have. Perhaps if you bring your A-Game, they will have to bring theirs as well.

Isaac Lavoie is the Talent Acquisition Coordinator for Kenzan and is based out of our Rhode Island offices. Though most of his time is spent riding around on his bicycle, he is also responsible for supporting the Kenzan HR team and for bringing new Kenzanites on board. With a background in the environmental education, mechanics, and group consensus building, Isaac is well suited to introduce applicants to the dynamic organization we call home.